Protest... Neil Miley's Sir John Sulman Entry

Once again Neil has determined to enter the Sir John Sulman Prize. Having entered each year for 4 years Neil may now be getting close to the level of technical skill required to be selected for hanging. If you read his review of last years Sulman you will understand that he will also need a judge with a similar outlook on art.

The inspiration for this painting came from a trip to France in May, June 2009. Every night there were protests and demonstrations of one kind or another on the TV news. When in Paris is was just at the end of the Spring Protest season and during a visit by the President of the US. This gave plenty of opportunity for thinking about protests, what they mean and how people participate in them.

The Global Financial Crisis was just getting into full swing and the bailout of Financial institutions was starting to hurt the everyday life of people in France. Putting these stimuli into one painting became a task that I had to do.

In the months that followed my return from Europe I was irritated by the foolish and often stupid remarks of the Opposition in the Federal Parliament regarding the "GFC that did not happen". For anyone that has been in Europe or America it is quite obvious that there was and is a GFC. In Australia we have about 100,000 people that lost their employment and many others that are still working reduced hours. So I wanted to both make a painting about Protests and comment on the reason for and impact of the GFC.

The first thing that came to me was that the painting would need to contain an emotional force, that the representation of that force would compensate for the lack of sound in the work. Given that my painting was inspired by France I determined to use Marianne to symbolise the determination, strength and energy that are usually projected verbally by a protest crowd.

There are secondary passions in a protest that are not initially discernible. These I wanted to bring into view, separated from the common crowd. Here I used bronze works by a Netherlands artist and a Finish artist as models for what I call "Unity", "Childish bravado", Passionate embrace", "Self Sacrifice" and "Togetherness". These elements overwhelm the crowd and project above the police line of shields.

I was already seeing that the painting would be complex and attempt to deal with as many issues as possible. I wanted people to be immediately engaged by the painting and to then have to encounter all the elements.

The first representational figure that I include from the recent protests is a figure from the Clown Army, a group that goes to protests generally in a more light hearted vain. I wanted to show this light heartedness and the generosity of feeling that the Clowns bring. I also wanted to point out the danger that the Clowns present to the Police by being disguised, I expect you could say I wanted to honour the bravery and perseverance of the police. The Clown is therefore shown offering an yellow sweet while the Police officer opposite is smaller in stature and less threatening but still watching.

In the foreground I want to place what a great many people think is the dominant protester, the young, couldn't care less or violent person that has no real interest in the issue. Again I counter poise this with the type of Police officer that is only too willing to engage physically with these protesters. The supportive group that the Police form is reinforced by officers coming to support the Police in contact with the protesters and others that watch the violence with concern.

The Police line separates the protesters from the often ill defined recipients of the protests message. In this case I chose Bankers as the cause of the GFC. They are broken into two groups, one sitting on the steps of a Parthenon like building (yes a side ways shot at Democracy and by default Capitalism) the other of a single figure hides deep in the shadows of the Parthenon. The step group display the indifference of the workers in Banks to what has happened, one mimics the Clowns offer but with nothing in his hand. The single figure represents the managers, shareholders that are protected by Government intervention and stay as distant as possible from the determination of the protesters.

The images of this work will be ready shortly.